Facial tissue needs to absorb nasal discharge to prevent the discharge from contacting the user's hand. It is also desirable that the tissue prevent strike-through—that is the absorbed discharge permeating through the tissue to the user's hand. Although both absorbency and strike-through prevention are desirable, optimizing one typically occurs at the expense of the other.
To better balance absorbency and strike-through prevention tissue manufacturers typically post-treat the tissue product. Post-treatment typically involves the application of a hydrophobic material such as a silicone, a wax or oil. While such treatments often balance absorbency and strike-through, they are expensive, require an additional application step, and may transfer a residue to the user's skin. Therefore, there is a need for a tissue that has both high absorbency and good strike-through without resorting to post-treatment with hydrophobic materials.